Wednesday, August 5, 2020 Leopard Lilies

I’ve always thought these were tiger lilies. I liked this photo and thought I’d blather on a bit about why they’re called tiger lilies, etc. However, I learned my lesson after the “Daucus Carota” incident and decided to do a little internet snooping. Here’s what a tiger lily actually looks like (assuming there might be one or two of you that don’t know):

I was chagrined when I saw the photos, because we always get these coming up as volunteers in our yard and I’m not terribly fond of them (but it was handy for getting photos for this post). I brought them in as cut flowers once and found out that the pollen is not only prodigious, it makes a permanent stain on your clothing. Someone needs to tell the flower-naming people that tigers are striped, not spotted. Shouldn’t this be a leopard lily? That’s even got alliteration going for it.

I have to admit that they are rather striking.

The tiger saw the lily
That had taken his name
And thought it was silly –
Just spots all aflame

The leopard saw the lily
That had the tiger’s name.
“With those spots, it really
Should be my claim to fame!”

I’ll probably dilly this in the morning.